The Deep Blue Lake

We started Day 9 with a few more stops in Ashland. Cristy had read about Dagoba organic chocolate the night before, so our first stop was to their factory/store. Impressive local chocolate shop, only tempered by discovering later that they are in fact owned by the Hershey Company. No Yoda sightings in the Dagoba system.

After lunch at the Latin/Asian bistro Dragonfly (which was passable and apparently also has a location in Pacific Beach) we were bound for Crater Lake. To say the least, Crater Lake is not convenient to the rest of the world. You take a right at Medford and go for about an hour and a half through nothing. Pretty drive, though, much of which is through National Forest land.

After arriving at the park and stopping by the visitor center, we rounded the corner and allowed our jaws to hit the ground.

Some 14,000 years ago a volcano exploded and collapsed creating a caldera (or 'hole') in the mountain which eventually filled with snowmelt from the nearby mountains. The lake has no tributaries, and at 1,950 feet deep is the deepest lake on the continent and the third deepest in the world.

Because of the snowmelt it is crystal clear -- visible to 400 feet deep -- and the most stunning shade of blue. The island in the middle is known as Wizard Island and is thought to be a secondary volcanic eruption.

Pretty remarkable. We drove around and stopped at several points but because of the snow on the ground (in July!) were not able to hike either Watchman's peak or the more challenging Mt. Scott peak (which we couldn't even drive near). So we just had to content ourselves with pictures from Rim Drive which were plenty satisfying.

After winding our way for two hours back to I-5 we went north to Eugene. After seeing an Oregon-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl last year, Cristy fell in love with the duck bill/duck call that Oregon fans use so our first stop was to the Duck Store to get a pair of her own. We then walked over to Heyward Field, the most significant (and likely the prettiest) track in the country. There were kids doing a summer camp, so we we sat in the stands a while allowing Cristy to hear my stories about Prefontaine and waffle irons.

Final stop was Autzen Stadium on the other side of the river. We couldn't get into the seating area, but did get to peak into their indoor facility which was quite impressive. Must be nice to have Nike around to bankroll everything.

We then drove about another hour before spending the night in Wilsonville a few miles south of Portland. Tomorrow we'll have lunch in Portland, drive to Seattle (only about three hours) and then go see the Mariners play at SAFECO Field. Friday will be Seattle exploration day, with Friday night camping in Olympic National Park to then setup our pilgrimage to Forks and Port Angeles on Saturday.